Chapter 10 #2
I reclaimed my spot in the driver’s seat. “I’m sorry to have wasted your time, Gage. The next ferry leaves in twenty minutes. If we hurry, you might catch it.”
“No need for a ferry. I came on my boss’s boat. It was only a short journey from downtown Savannah, so I can leave whenever I choose.”
“I think you’ll find you can leave whenever I choose, which is now.” I gave him my hardest stare, the kind I usually reserved for Edith when she overstayed her welcome on my doorstep.
Unlike Edith, Gage didn’t fold. “Vale isn’t someone you want to piss off, Maya. Trust me on that.”
At this point I was fresh out of snappy comebacks. “He’s your boss, not mine,” I said.
“Maybe he could be. I hear there’s an opening.” Gage paused, frowning. “Too soon?”
“Definitely too soon.” I clenched my jaw so hard that I was afraid I chipped a tooth. “This island is restricted property. The next time you step foot on it without prior authorization, you’ll regret it.”
He took the threat in stride. “I think you’ll find nowhere in this region is out of my boss’s reach, including Evermore.”
“If this Vale would like to file a claim of jurisdiction, tell him to contact Justine Kaminsky. In the meantime, I’m going to ask you one more time to leave immediately.”
“My boss will be very disappointed.”
“Sounds like he needs the practice.”
Gage flashed that flirtatious dimpled smile. “We’ll meet again, you know.”
“Highly doubtful.” I lived on the island, and he lived in Savannah and never the twain shall meet—if I had any say in the matter.
After an uneventful search of the Farm, I returned home, dirty and exhausted. I showered and changed, replaying Gage’s “request” in my mind. I’d never even heard of this Vale. How powerful could he be?
A noise at the door brought me to my feet.
Following my break-in, I wasn’t taking any chances.
I grabbed my stun gun and peered out the window.
Nubby horns, round face, knobby chin, and fangs that could slice through the soda can perched on the edge of my counter.
I set the stun gun on the console table and opened the door.
“Hey, Hannya.”
“You busy, honey?” she drawled. The demon’s eyes were cruel, hard, and cold, a sharp contrast to her honeyed voice.
“Always, but come on in. How can I help?” Hannya stepped fully into the room, and my gaze fell straight from her eyes to her leggings. “Are those octopus arms?”
She glanced down at her bottom half. “Fish scales. They’re mermaid-themed in honor of Belinda.”
Sparkly light blue fins fluttered around the solid dark blue leggings like a sarong. “That’s kind of you. I didn’t realize you two were close.”
“We weren’t, but I still felt like doing a little something to honor her memory. Getting blackout drunk isn’t my thing, so I figured fashion would do.”
Okay, then. “The HOA is planning a service for Belinda and Judd. I don’t know the details yet, but I’m sure there’ll be a community post. ”
“Oh, I wouldn’t feel right attending her service.” She snapped her leggings. “This is as far as I go.”
“Why wouldn’t you feel right attending the service?”
“Belinda wasn’t very kind to me, so I don’t think she’d like the idea of me turning up. Not saying I killed her or anything like that. Just laying out the truth, which is kinda why I’m here.” She nodded toward the sofa. “Mind if we sit?”
Miss Manners, that’s me. “Of course. Sorry about that. I don’t entertain much.”
“No offense, honey, but I can tell.” She planted herself on the small sofa and crossed her legs in a dainty fashion.
I perched my butt on the edge of the coffee table with far less poise. “Tell me, Hannya, what other truths are you laying out for me today?”
“As it happens, I walked past Buck’s the night of his party.”
“You didn’t stop in?”
“Of course not. Buck loathes me. Thinks I’m the antithesis of what a woman should be.”
“I suspect he thinks the same about a lot of the women on this island.” Buck’s hefty frame was held together by duct tape and misogyny. “What did you see?”
“Belinda leaving. It was dark, and I only realized it was her when I heard that high-pitched dolphin sound she made.”
“She was laughing?”
“Or crying. Hard to tell the difference with her.”
“Was she alone?”
“She seemed to be, except she was chattering away to herself. I assumed she was drunk.”
“She wasn’t. ”
“Well, here’s the part that’s even more interesting—I noticed a couple odd smells.”
“Like pot?”
“Sweet Lucifer, no. Pot at a party in the Neighborhood is standard, or so I’m told.”
“Then, define odd.”
“Usually when I walk through that area of the Neighborhood, I smell the usual shifter scents—piss, damp hair, sweat.”
I was glad Judd wasn’t here to listen to her assessment of his species. “But you smelled something different that night?”
“I sure did, honey. Woodland scents. Moss. Some kind of wild floral scent.”
My pulse quickened. “Violets?”
She slapped her knee. “You know what? I think it was. How’d you know that?”
“Lucky guess. Did you happen to see Judd that night?”
“No, just Belinda. I would’ve told you sooner, but since I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, I didn’t think it mattered.”
It mattered. “What time was this?”
“I’d reckon it was around midnight. I walked straight home and went to bed.”
“Are you usually walking around the Neighborhood that late?”
“When I can’t sleep, I like to go down to the beach and listen to the water.”
“There are apps for that, you know.”
“Nothing like the real thing, though, is there? The fresh air. The waves rolling to shore.” Hannya inhaled deeply. “Slept like the dead that night.” She winced. “Sorry, poor choice of words. ”
“What made you decide this was worth telling me now?”
“I overheard ladies chatting in Rise and Grind. They said the trail was cold. I figured I’d tell you what I noticed, in case it’s helpful.”
“Thank you, Hannya. It’s definitely helpful.” The demon had smelled moss and violets, the same scents Jinx picked up at the Farm where Judd’s body was discovered. There was no way this was a coincidence. Belinda’s killer and Judd’s killer had to be one and the same.
“Glad to hear it.” She gave me a sly look. “Now maybe one good turn deserves another.”
Aha. I should’ve known the demon had an angle. “How can I help?”
She puckered her lips into a pout. “Nobody’ll let me join their team, and you and I both know there’s no way to play pickleball all by your lonesome.”
“I’ve actually never played pickleball, but I accept your statement as fact.”
“The thing is,” Hannya continued, “I’m real good at pickleball.”
“Then I guess it’s their loss.”
Sighing from the weight of the pickleball world, she sank against the back of the sofa. “Might you have a talk with some of the ladies? They’ll listen to you.”
I pictured Meemaw’s surly face and bit back a laugh. “What makes you think that?”
“Because I hear the way they talk about you. They’re fond of you.”
“I work security, Hannya. Yours is more of an HOA issue.” And even that was questionable.
Hannya fixed me with a set of naturally glaring eyes. “You know full well the HOA doesn’t do shit unless somebody keeps a boot on their neck. I already have Neighbors afraid of me because of my appearance. Last thing I want to do is feed into the stereotype.”
The truth was—I did want to help her. I saw a glimpse of my former self in the terrifying demon seated across from me. Five years ago, nobody would’ve let me join their team either. Even now, if they learned the truth, I’d become an outcast like Hannya.
“I’ll make a call.”
Hannya smiled, showcasing her oral weapons. “I appreciate you, Maya. Judd would’ve called me a drama llama and sent me home with a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.”
Judd’s name landed between us with a thud. “He was good at his job,” I said, unwilling to disparage my boss, especially while I was still processing his death. I knew better than to anoint the dead as saints, but the wound was too raw.
“Oh, I didn’t mean any offense,” Hannya said. “Judd will be missed, no doubt about it.”
“I’ll let you know when I have news to share.”
She vaulted from the sofa. “Thank you, honey. Aren’t you a gem?”
There was a long line of people who’d disagree with her, but they weren’t in the room with us, so I accepted the compliment with my usual silence.
I waited for the mermaid leggings to depart my home, then picked up the phone to complete the favor. I couldn’t call Justine after she’d just admonished me for getting involved with Gwen. Her assistant would have to do.
“Hey, Lionel.”
“Hi Maya. Justine isn’t available at the moment.”
“I’m actually calling for you. We have a Code Rudolph.”
He groaned. “Who’s the unlucky reindeer? ”
“Hannya.”
He sucked in a breath. “Oomph. That’s a toughie.”
“Apparently. I don’t see the problem, though.”
“When did your eyes stop working?”
“Hannya is a demon. Big deal. We have all kinds on the island. She’s hardly scary enough to justify being ostracized.”
“It isn’t only her appearance, Maya. The last time somebody pissed off Hannya, it took two werewolves to separate them. Hannya dragged her fangs all over the victim’s face.”
“Some people pay good money for microneedling.”
“Trust me. Her skin did not look smooth and youthful afterward.”
“What if we make her sign a promissory note? If she misbehaves, she has to fork over something that matters to her.”
Lionel was quiet for a moment. “That could work. Which team does she want to join?”
“Pickleball. She claims to be an excellent player.”
“I believe it.” He paused again. “What about Louise’s team?”
“Those two on the same side? Seems unfair to everyone else.”
“Good point. Ruby plays pickleball, doesn’t she?”
“Yes, Ruby’s perfect.” The bear shifter was a reasonable balance of kind and sassy with deeply ingrained mama bear instincts. If Hannya was placed in her care, demon or not, Ruby would protect her from any disrespectful behavior.
“Consider it done.”
“Thanks, Lionel.”
“How are you holding up anyway?”
“No worse than anybody else. We all suffered a loss.”
“I know, but Judd was like a big brother to you. It can’t be easy trying to do his job and grieve his death at the same time.”
“I wouldn’t have chosen it, that’s for sure.”
“If you need company, a bunch of us are going to shoot pool after work. We’ve got room for one more.”
“You could always invite Hannya.”
Lionel ignored the joke. “Spot’s yours if you want it. Let me know.”
“How’s everything in your office? Must be a bit chaotic.”
“Two murders reflect very poorly on the HOA. Justine wants them solved yesterday. She said, and I quote, ‘We have all the time in the world to grieve when the job is done.’”
That sounded like Justine.
“‘Tell Maya, the faster she moves through the stages of grief, the faster we resolve this.’”
No, that actually sounded like Justine.
“Shit,” Lionel said. “Hold on, Maya. Justine’s back and she’d like to speak to you.”
Terrific.
The line clicked and Justine’s voice came through loud and clear. “I need you to go to Savannah and see someone.”
“Would this someone happen to go by the name of Vale?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, he would.”
The mysterious Vale strikes again. My nerves began to fray. “You can’t be serious, Justine. How can you expect me to leave the island in the midst of everything?”
“Because Vale expects it, and we’re obligated to comply with his requests.”
“Since when do we answer to someone outside Evermore? ”
“Since I received an official claim of jurisdiction from the Protector of the Region’s office.”
Damn me and my big mouth. Well, at least now I understood the connection to Gage’s Elite Division.
“This is a positive development, Maya. If the Protector has taken an interest, then we’ll get the help you obviously need. Their resources will far exceed our own.”
“I think it’s a mistake. You open the door for them a crack and they’ll blow it wide open. The next thing you know, they’ll be in complete control of Evermore.”
“If we don’t solve these murders, there might not be an Evermore to control. I hate to say it, Maya, but we need them. Go see this Vale. Hear what he has to offer.”
My palms grew slick with sweat as I held the phone. “What’s the address?”
“His boat will collect you from the dock at eight o’clock tomorrow morning. Lionel will handle security calls in your absence.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Really, Maya. Why are you making this harder than necessary? Just go to the mainland, secure his help, and come home. Most people here would give their eye teeth for a day pass, even the vampires.”
I saw no way out of this. “Fine. I’ll go.”
My finger trembled as I disconnected the call. In less than twenty-four hours, I would leave the island for the first time in five years. Whoever this Vale was, he’d better have a damn good reason for demanding my presence.